Speaking with journalist Christiane Amanpour, the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, referred to the hectic days of social mobilization that have taken place in the country in recent days. López assured that we must pay special attention to what young people need; She also expressed her opposition to the violence during last week’s demonstrations; and she stated that what the country needs is a viable and concerted solution to the crisis.
During the interview, Claudia López stressed that even though the protests have been very tense. Bogotá has not had any fatalities and that the exit route should begin with the agreement of the National Government with the leaders of the protests. “There have been violent days, but fortunately the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful, young people are raising their voices, they must be heard. What we need now is to reach a political agreement to listen to the voice of the young people who protest, they are the ones in the streets, who unfortunately have not yet been invited by President Duque.”
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24 people are dead after 8 days of protests in Colombia over a now abandoned tax hike and widespread inequality. “What we need at this moment is calm,” says Bogotá Mayor @ClaudiaLopez. “What do young people want?… This is an extreme, unequal society, and they want to be heard.” pic.twitter.com/UUcIpi0CWO
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) May 6, 2021
The Mayor referred to the unfortunate events that occurred last year in September, and stressed that this time the protection of life has prevailed in the Colombian capital, "there was a very critical situation with events very similar to George Floyd's. The demonstrations escalated violently. I denounced this nationally and confronted the police, the president, and as a city we were able to agree to reduce violence and police abuse; fortunately that has been a useful tool for these times.”
Regarding the reason why young people and various social organizations have taken to the streets, she pointed out, “What do young people want? they want inclusion. Right now they live in high levels of poverty, high levels of unemployment, this is because we are in a highly unequal society. They were heard in the sense that the president withdrew the Tax Reform proposal, but now they have to be invited to the table to make a social contract, to build a plan to recover from poverty, to have economic viability and employment”.
Faced with a possible solution to the current situation, she proposed increasing the autonomy of cities, especially with regard to debt capacity. “Cities must have more debt capacity at this time. For example, in Bogotá right now we only have 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but the National Government has 65% of GDP. I think that in the midst of this crisis there are things that can be done. To get out of this crisis there is much to be done”, indicated the Mayor of Bogotá.
Finally, Mayor López, called for good sense and denounced that behind the protests that demand better social conditions, there are other interests that do not help the advancement of agreements between the government and the citizenry. “What is needed is that the political forces act seriously and invite the youth to dialogue, to call social forces to the table, instead of stimulating political radicalizations that will end in violence.”
About Amanpour
Amanpour is CNN International's premier global affairs talk show, named after its director, Christiane Maria Heideh Amanpour, a British-Iranian journalist and television presenter. The second segment of the program is usually an interview of the director with a specialized journalist or with high-level representatives of the world political sphere, with whom she analyzes current issues.
